Hurricane season in Florida begins today and continues through Nov. 30. As residents prepare for potential storms, crews on the South Hillsborough Pipeline project also take steps to ensure project sites are prepared.
Garney, the construction manager for the project, reviews and updates its hurricane procedures annually in advance of hurricane season. These procedures follow industry best practices to help protect surrounding communities and secure work zones when severe weather is forecasted.
Days before a predicted hurricane’s landfall, crews begin implementing storm preparation plans to keep roadways and storm sewers open, including:
- Backfilling and securing open trenches
- Tying down barricades and staged materials
- Stabilizing and securing equipment
- Removing silt barriers from storm sewer inlets to maximize drainage
- Ensuring roadways and evacuation routes are open
- Emptying and securing port-o-lets
Tampa Bay Water, Garney and the entire South Hillsborough Pipeline project team closely monitor weather conditions. Should tropical activity threaten our area, we’ll keep residents updated as we initiate our procedures.